Apple Fest t-shirt design winner picked

ContributedThis design, by Halee Good, was selected as the winner for the Apple Festival’s t-shirt contest.

SARAH LOWERY
Staff Writer

The Lincoln County Apple Festival may be months away, but preparations are already beginning, with a winner for the annual event’s T-shirt design contest announced this week.

Halee Good, a 23-year-old graphic designer, has been selected by the Apple Festival Board for her entry into the contest.

Any interested resident of Lincoln County, of any age, was eligible to enter up to three original designs by the April 1 deadline.

Joyce Dorsey, festival liaison at the county’s Cooperative Extension Office, said the deep colors used by Good in her design were among the reasons behind it being named the winner.

“They will show up great on a shirt,” Dorsey said.

Good, who graduated from North Lincoln High School in 2008, attended Catawba Valley Community College’s graphic design program and said she’s always been into art, including drawing and painting. She now works at Sphere Advertising in Hickory.

She heard about the contest through a friend and spent a couple of days finalizing her entry, using an “old-style” font that she said had “a certain feel to it.” As the chosen artist, Good also received a $200 prize.

Also announced was the local nonprofit to coordinate the production and sale of this year’s T-shirts, with Assault and Victimization Intervention and Deterrence (AVID) of Lincolnton selected.

The group, which serves as a rape-crisis center for adults and provides free-of-charge services to victims of sexual assault, will keep any profits made through the sale of the shirts, which will bear Good’s design.

AVID, which is based in Gastonia, was invited to Lincolnton by the North Carolina Council for Women and Amy’s House three years ago. It is located at 105 West Court Square.

Local nonprofit groups are invited each year to write an essay describing why they should be awarded the design, with the selected group then assuming complete responsibility for having the shirts printed and selling them at an assigned booth on the day of the festival. Shirts may also be sold leading up to the festival, if the organization chooses to do so.

Mary Elder, program manager at AVID, said she plans for all proceeds to go toward the purchase of prepared educational materials, such as pamphlets, brochures and booklets. She and her co-workers, including Latino Outreach Coordinator Norma Freyre and counselor Shauna Allen, hope to distribute them during presentations and at health-fair booths.

To maintain a stock of a variety of these informational materials, she estimates it would cost between $2,500 and $3,000.

Elder will now look into getting the shirts, which will be available for between $10 and $12, printed and ready for sale.